After each use of a surgical instrument, it is imperative that the surgical instrument is washed and sterilized thoroughly to prevent the transmission of disease-causing contaminants to subsequent patients or medical personnel. The process of sterilizing surgical instruments after surgery consists of several steps. The first step is to "rough clean" the instruments. The purpose of this invention is to assist in this first stage of cleaning.
Many surgical instruments contain cavities or channels that: are difficult or impossible to reach with current cleaning devices. Therefore, some surgical instruments can only be cleaned externally. In addition, many current devices for cleaning surgical instruments require a large quantity of water to clean the instruments. It is common for current devices to operate by using a minimum of 2.5 gallons of water a minute when cleaning the surgical equipment. It is the intention of this invention to provide a device that is capable of cleaning internal channels of the surgical instrument. It is also the intention to increase the existing water pressure such that less water can be used than with current devices, while providing effective cleaning ability. It is further an intention of this invention to provide a means for introducing cleaning and lubricating fluids to the device such that the resulting water and fluid solution has an increased pressure when it is sprayed on the surgical instruments.